The Doctor's Role in Rural Health Care

A new pattern of health care in developing countries promises to meet the needs of rural people and still provide reasonable gratification for health workers. The service must have mutually strengthening linkages between all levels of the health care system. Reallocating roles in the health team requires turning routine medical care over to auxiliaries so that professionals can concentrate on more complex problems, such as community diagnosis and therapy. Young doctors are reasonable and willing to undertake a rural rotation early in their medical careers. This will help to identify those few who will provide leadership in improving rural services.

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Childhood Mental Disorders in Primary Health Care: Results of Observations in Four Developing Countries

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.68.5.677 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 68 (5) ◽

pp. 677-683

Author(s):

R. Giel ◽

M. V. de Arango ◽

C. E. Climent ◽

T. W. Harding ◽

H. H. A. Ibrahim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

Mental Disorders ◽

Health Workers ◽

Health Care Facilities ◽

Primary Health ◽

Care Facilities ◽

Research Procedure ◽

Primary Health Care Facilities

To ascertain the frequency of mental disorders in Sudan, Philippines, India, and Colombia, 925 children attending primary health care facilities were studied. Rates of between 12% and 29% were found in the four study areas. The range of mental disorders diagnosed was similar to that encountered in industrialized countries. The research procedure involved a two-stage screening in which a ten-item "reporting questionnaire" constituted the first stage. The study has shown that mental disorders are common among children attending primary health care facilities in four developing countries and that accompanying adults (usually the mothers) readily recognize and report common psychologic and behavioral symptoms when these are solicited by means of a simple set of questions. Despite this, the primary health workers themselves recognized only between 10% and 22% of the cases of mental disorder. The results have been used to design appropriate brief training courses in childhood mental disorders for primary health workers in the countries participating in the study.

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Global flows

Health Equity in a Globalizing Era ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198835356.003.0009 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 192-219

Author(s):

Ronald Labonté ◽

Arne Ruckert

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Health Systems ◽

Medical Tourism ◽

Health Workers ◽

Skilled Labour ◽

Private Investments ◽

Market Opportunities ◽

Health Worker Migration ◽

High Disease Burden

Health systems rely upon two groups of people: health workers and patients. In recent decades both groups have been on the move globally, with the creation of internationalized labour market opportunities (the hunt for skilled labour in the case of health workers) and private investments in high-end health care on lower-cost developing countries (one of the key incentives for patients seeking care outside of their own country, for uninsured or under-insured services). Both flows raise a number of health equity concerns. Health worker migration can pose undue hardships on low-resource, high-disease burden countries who lose their workers to richer nations, creating a ‘perverse subsidy’ of poor to rich. With medical tourism, private, fee-paying foreign patients in poorer countries could ‘crowd out’ access to care for domestic patients in those countries, while potentially returning with drug resistant infections or complications burdening their home country’s health systems.

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The Role of Pediatricians in Health Care Delivery

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.47.1.149 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 149-151

Author(s):

William G. Crook

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Delivery ◽

Allied Health ◽

Health Workers ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Crucial Importance ◽

Pediatric Practice ◽

Health Team ◽

Primary Physicians

As a member of the Sub-Committee on Manpower of the Council on Pediatric Practice, I've long been interested in allied health workers. Certainly, when such workers become available and are appropriately coordinated with others on the health team, the skills and talents of physicians can be used more productively. But I feel that the manpower pendulum in pediatrics may be swinging too far in the direction of allied health workers, and causing us to forget the crucial importance of primary physicians in delivering medical care.

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Welcoming and bonding in the conceptions and practices of community health workers

Texto & Contexto - Enfermagem ◽

10.1590/0104-07072014001200013 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 626-632 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rafaela De Carli ◽

Marta Cocco da Costa ◽

Ethel Bastos da Silva ◽

Darielli Gindri Resta ◽

Isabel Cristina dos Santos Colomé

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Data Analysis ◽

Community Health ◽

Health Workers ◽

Rio Grande ◽

Active Listening ◽

Rio Grande Do Sul ◽

Thematic Content Analysis ◽

Health Team ◽

Semistructured Interviews

Light technologies in health approximate professionals and users and serve as important tools in the work of Community Health Agents to know the families' difficulties and develop strategies. In this study, the aim was to get to know the concepts of welcoming and bonding of Community Health Agents in a city in the Northwest of Rio Grande do Sul and their use in care actions. This qualitative study involved 11 participants. Semistructured interviews were chosen for the data collection and thematic content analysis for data analysis. The study revealed welcoming as receptive acts and words and bonding as a relation of friendship, trust and commitment. These technologies were mainly used during home visits, when they exercise active listening and provide orientations. The need to equip the Community Health Agents and the health team is evidenced with a view to enhancing the understanding of the light technologies and acknowledging their relevance in health care.

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The Needs of Developing Countries

Journal of the World Association for Emergency and Disaster Medicine ◽

10.1017/s1049023x00032581 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 26-26

Author(s):

Saad Fouad

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Developing Countries ◽

High Risk ◽

Rural Health ◽

Rural Health Care ◽

Health Problems ◽

The People ◽

High Risk Infants

EMS in developing countries must be established as a high priority, since it is one of the key elements in making possible any realistic improvement in health care. In Egypt, the pre-hospital phase of EMS is a highly visible commitment to the welfare of the nation and is a catalyst for other health activities. Satisfying needs identified in rural health care, such as high-risk infants, trauma, and time-related health problems, will be facilitated by an effective EMS system. EMS must be adapted to fit the culture of the people and their specific needs.

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Psychiatric Priorities in Developing Countries

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.128.6.513 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 128 (6) ◽

pp. 513-522 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

R. Giel ◽

T. W. Harding

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

Health Services ◽

Health Workers ◽

Limited Range ◽

Primary Health ◽

Wide Range ◽

Health Action

SummaryMany psychiatrists assert that an expansion of mental health services in the developing countries is overdue. This will only take place if: (i) the tasks of mental health care are undertaken by a wide range of non-specialist health workers, including those responsible for primary health care; and (ii) services are directed initially at a very limited range of priority conditions. The method of priority selection is discussed, and the process required for translation of priority decisions into health action is exemplified by two illustrations.

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